How would you define your market? What are the demographics?
No business – no matter how big or small – can be all things to all people. The more narrowly you define your market, the more effective you can be with your message.
This process is known as niche marketing. And it’s the key to creating successful marketing campaigns.
According to a recent study by Jivox, a personalized digital advertisement will have three times as much consumer engagement as a standard advertising display. Consumer engagement is measured in three critical areas: click-through rate, interaction rate, and average dwell time.
The more focused your message, the more you speak to your audience. And when your audience feels the difference, they are more likely to convert.
Online, there are a number of ways to attract your niche market. You can do so with ads. You can do so with social media. You can also do so with content – one of the most successful processes online.
For your company to stand out, you need to provide value in an interesting and engaging way. When companies think outside of the box, people react.
- People want their problems solved.
- People want to be entertained.
- People want to learn.
- People want to be engaged.
Yes, that’s tough for any company to do consistently. But a content marketing strategy can help you do all that and more. And it does so in three easy steps:
Builds Awareness
Content helps solve a problem. Content educated them on specific issues. You do this by creating content that your prospects and customers are searching for. The more specific, the better. It showcases your expertise on a particular topic. It starts building trust in your brand.
Evaluate Your Solutions
Consumers are always looking for if/then solutions. If I have a problem, then how can you be the solution? Your content builds awareness that you understand the problem. Your content continues to lead people by the hand to help them evaluate you as the solution provider. You can do this in many ways, from free reports and whitepapers, to case studies providing your expertise.
Conversion
Once you have a customer sold on who you are, you make the process easy to complete the sale. From signing up for a demo to making a shopping cart user friendly, the easier the process, the more successful your online campaign will be.
Sounds good, right?
Where do you begin?
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Developing A Niche Content Marketing Strategy
Define Your Audience
Whether you target one niche or several different segments, the more you understand your audience, the easier it is to reach out to them. Let’s take someone shopping for a new furnace as an example. A man wondering why his furnace is making a clunking sound will be searching for information in different ways than a woman looking for a highly efficient replacement for her home.
The typical furnace company might approach the entire market share one way: we sell furnaces. But a highly effective content marketing strategy will ensure the proper information is there and ready for reach to both potential customers searching online. What works better:
We Sell Furnaces
Or
Wondering If That Clunking Sound Means It’s Time For A New Furnace?
Guess which one will be clicked on more?
Define your customers in as much detail as possible. Demographic data such as age, gender, location, and marital status is important. You can also list out questions and concerns your target audience may have. Also define their spending habits, their interests, and where they go to consume content.
Find What They’re Searching For
In order to be effective with your content, you have to know what your prospects are searching for. Simply guessing won’t get you very far. The right keywords will place you in the search engine results where people looking for you will find you. If you’re not sure with the keyword researching process, it’s best to give that job to a professional. They will help you discover a full realm of possible search terms your clients are actually searching for.
Create Your Content Calendar
Like every other marketing strategy you use, consistency wins the game every time. A little bit of content here and a little bit there will leave your customers less than excited. A schedule for when content is produced and how it is released will keep your entire team on track. To do this, it’s best to create a content calendar that spells out how much content will be produced each month and how it impacts your social media calendar so you know when content will be available to post and share.
Content Production
The title and keywords define the content. But it takes more than a great title to be attractive in the online world. Have you ever read a post or an article that left you wondering … What? Not all content creators are the same. Because content marketing is so valuable, a lot of businesses take shortcuts and produce content merely for the sake of search engine rankings. And while that might lead to traction in the search engines, it will do little to gain respect and trust once they click on the link. High quality content wins every time.
Distribute
Yes, your content should go directly onto your site. But from there, it should be shared in a variety of ways. Studies show that almost half of all consumers will read three to five pieces of content before making a purchase. The higher cost of the item, the more content they will consume.
The more you distribute it, the better chance you’ll have of being found. You can use a variety of tactics, including:
Word of mouth – review sites work well
Publicity – press release sites can help spread the word
Purchased media – any channel that you pay to promote your content
Social media – and account you use to spread your content
You can use many different combinations, from email marketing to print newsletters. The possibilities are truly endless.
Measuring Your Results
You can spread your content far and wide, but if you aren’t tracking your results, you’ll never discover the best methods for your business. Tracking will tell you what platforms work. This can lead to investing more of your time and money into things that actually produce results. It can also give you insight in how to dig deeper into your content strategy and build more for particular segments of your niche. They may have questions you’ve never thought of before. And if you answer them, you’ll be the company more likely to be found.
